..."and a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the way of holiness; evil minded people shall not travel on it, but it shall be for those wayfarers who are traveling toward God. (Isaiah 35:8, adapted)

Monday, January 08, 2007

Patty Kirk's newly released book, "Confessions of an Amateur Believer",is a poignant and heartfelt spiritual autobiography of an honest seeker who knows what it means to have faith wax, then wane, and then joyfully wax again. One can get the impression, from the atmosphere present in many churches, that faith ought to be an easy thing. Everyone looks so cheery, so "nice", so beyond doubt. Secretly, however, in my inner heart, I may feel likeeveryone but me is sure about their relationshipto God.

The truth is: we are all on a journey, and nomatter how much we think we know about God, God is always trying to bring us us deeper and further. Many of us were "given" faith as a child, but is our childhood faith enoughto bring us to a mature knowledge of God?

There is a truism: "God draws straight lines with crooked sticks." The author journeys from her childhood faith growing up in the Catholic church to a point as an adult where she says,'The faint glimmer of faith I had once was not enough to fill me with the light of genuine belief. ...and without faith, I was notsaved. I was not a Catholic. Not a Christian. Not going to heaven...when I died, no matter what anyone told me." How honest andpoignant! She winds up her journey by saying,"God is so amazingly generous. I ask, He gives.Just like that. I worry; He counsels me in the night and instructs me in His ways." Not a glib,easy faith, but one born of trust.

Here are the straightforward reflections of a person wrestling through the many innerquestions that we are all confronted with,each perhaps in our own way, as we grow fromdoubt to the tender shoots of authentic faith. With so much that seems phony in the realm of "belief", here is a breath of fresh air of someone who speaks from her heart. If you have ever moved from "here to there" in your beliefs, wondered if anyone else was thinkinglike you, tripping over the rocks of doubt, but longing for true faith, or know someone who has, you may enjoy "Confessions of an Amateur Believer." (published by Nelson Books, 0-7852-2041-0).